Jed Hoyer's Kyle Tucker message sounds like déjà vu for Cubs fans

Praise and deflect, praise and deflect, praise and deflect.

When Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was asked about Kyle Tucker's impact and whether or not the team would explore a reunion in free agency, he gave the answer just about any big-league executive would give - which wasn't much of an answer at all.

"Obviously now, we're into free agency and ... we'll be having those conversations. Like I said a bunch of times during the season, everyone could use a guy like Kyle Tucker. Everyone gets better by having a player like that. We'll certainly be having those conversations."

Cubs will explore a reunion with Kyle Tucker - but how serious are they?

Despite a woeful second half and an injury-shortened season that saw Tucker play just 136 games, the four-time All-Star is still expected to fetch a deal somewhere in the $300-400 million range as this winter's free agent headliner. The Cubs have never come anywhere close to that dollar amount for a player, so it would be shocking to see them finally flex their large market financial muscle.

"When we were at our best, Kyle was at his best and vice versa. There's no question he had a huge impact on this team. Obviously he dealt with some injuries and struggled a bit in the second half, but I think when you take the totality of the season, he had a huge impact as we'd hoped he would."

Again, there's nothing more Hoyer can or should say here. It just rings hollow given the team's small-market thinking we've seen since Theo Epstein departed and his longtime #2 took over. Chicago continues to make moves more suited for small market clubs like the Guardians or Rays instead of competing with powerhouses like the Dodgers and Phillies - so when fans hear that the Cubs will 'have conversations', frankly, it's hard to think anything will come of them.